It’s that time of year again for predictions, regrets, resolutions and reflection. For 2017, I missed out on a few opportunities (Bitcoin), but overall, it was a rewarding year despite my fairly conservative approach to trading. For 2018, it’s not likely I’ll adjust risk, but I do plan to increase contributions to my various retirement accounts.
As 2017 winds down, here are a few sectors I’ll have an eye on during the first half of 2018.
Retail
These companies should benefit from the new Tax Bill since they generally pay higher taxes than other corporations. It’s also fair to assume consumers will blow through any kind of raises or bonuses instead of saving or investing. This means more spending and more money into retail, in general. Of course, online retail will dominate the news (see IBUY – online retail ETF), but I expect a pullback as the sector figures out what’s next (mergers, etc).
IBUY Daily
Here are a few retail names I’ll be watching.. both online and offline:
high-end retailers:
M TPR TIF LVMUY
everything else:
There are a lot of good stocks here, but many have run too high, too fast. I’ll look for consolidations in AEO GPS LB TJX ROST.
Infrastructure
Trump is talking infrastructure again and there is a real drive from both democrats and republicans to sign a big infrastructure spending bill in 2018. Here are few on my watchlist. Many of them have already moved, so I’ll watch for pullbacks.
AMT GV VMC BLDR MAS URI CAT ACM
Robots
Robots are going to take over the world. We are already seeing robots and AI infiltrate the home and manufacturing floor. Here are a few stocks involved in robotics that I believe are primed for a big 2018:
FANUY FTV ROP
smart home:
CTRL IRBT
In summary, there will be many more sectors and stocks that will find their way to my watchlist. In addition to the sectors above, My guess is that we’ll also see strength in banking, business services, and energy. My sleeper is gold because part of me doesn’t believe in this propped up market and it could fall off a cliff in full-on panic mode. We’ll see, but if 2018 is anything like 2017, it’ll be another epic year.
